I Should Have Done This Sooner
by samandjackshipper
Summary: (Set post Angel finale) On the eve of the apocolypse, Spike decides to do something he should have done sooner.
1. Live the day like its your last

Spike was sitting at a bar in downtown L.A. He picked up a shot of whiskey, gestured "cheers" to the bartender before shooting the whiskey down. Someone bumped into Spike, pushing him into the large biker-type standing next to him. The man glared meanly at Spike.

"Ahh. Nice crowd." Spike said, more to himself than those sitting around him.

The bartender refilled Spikes whisky glass. "It can get pretty ugly in here, I gotta warn you."

Spike drank down the shot in one fluid motion. "What I'm after. Couple more shots of courage, and I may make my presence felt."

The bartender refilled Spike's whisky glass again "Your funeral." The bartender muttered.

"Well, I never had a proper one." Spike grinned as he drank the shot.

As Spike sat at the bar, the memories of those last couple of nights he and Buffy had spent together wrapped in each others embrace, washed over him. No matter how much he drank he couldn't stop it. 'Damn vampire constitution' he thought ,

'well if I can't stop it, might as well embrace it'. And with that he rose from his seat and walked over to the nearest pay phone. He took out a piece of paper with a phone number scribbled on it, dropped some quarters into the slot, and dialled the number. 'Damn what am I going to say, I've not spoken to her for, bloody hell, I don't know how long. I mean, she doesn't even know I'm...' Then the answer phone picked up. 'Thank shit, at least he wouldn't have to say this to her face...well...her personally'

Then her voice came on the answer phone. If his heart was alive it would have skipped a few beats. God he missed the sound of her voice.

"Hey this is Buffy and Dawn. We're not home right now so leave a message"

Spike laughed as the beep came.

"Never were one for many words were ya pet?"

He paused, what was he going to say, should he lie or tell her the truth. The truth that was best, he probably wasn't going to make it through tonight, he'd held this off for too long.

"I'm sure your wondering what the hell I'm doing on your machine, seeing as I should be little pieces of dust floating in the wind. To cut a very long story short, I came back as a ghostie when broody face got the amulet back. I walked through walls for a while till some guy made me a real boy again, well as real as a vampire with a soul can be. Look, the reason I'm calling, or more the reason I've put this off for so long...I went out in a blaze of glory that day in the hellmouth, and I didn't want to ruin anything between us. We'd said our goodbyes in the best way possible, but now..."

He paused, took an unnecessary deep breath

"Listen love, I've missed you so much, and with the impending apocalypse set for tonight's agenda, peaches doesn't think we're gonna make it through this one, and for once I agree with him. Huh, never thought I'd agree with Angel, well there's a first time for everything I suppose."

He was getting off track he had to stay focussed, that and he was running out of quarters.

"I just wanted to say that...I love you, so much, and tonight there's gonna be no amulets or trinkets of any kind, so if I get dusted tonight there's no coming back, and I wanted to tell you that before I go. I've missed you so much and I should have put my pride aside and come to see you and nibblet a long time ago."

He could feel tears welling up in his eyes.

"Say hi to lil' bit .I love you so, so much Buffy, I'll be seeing you love..." He let the words trail off and he didn't care that the tears were flowing now for his lost love, Hell if anyone saw him he could get in a few practice kills before the big finale.

He placed the receiver on the hook, and went off to rescue a baby, and face his impending doom.

Little did he know that, in an apartment in Rome, someone else's tears were flowing, for a blonde haired vampire with a soul, thought dead.


	2. Let's go to work

Chapter 2 – 'Lets go to work'

In an apartment in Rome

Buffy stood before her answer phone, her tears making trails down her cheeks. When she had pressed the button to listen to the messages, she had expected to hear Andrew's voice taking over the tape like he always did, whenever he went out with some girls. He tended to call and tell Buffy & Dawn, not to wait up, 'cos he wouldn't be home till really late. It had gotten annoying after the first couple of times, but now after a couple of dozen times, it really was infuriating. She certainly hadn't expected to hear the voice of a British vampire she had come to love with all her heart, and who had died to save the world. She rested her hands on the table in front of her and wept silently.

She didn't register Dawn's exasperated questioning, of 'why she had to carry the groceries up the stars when Buffy was the one with the slayer strength'.

"Who was that on the machine?" Dawn questioned her sister.

When she didn't reply she walked over to her and saw the tears falling down her sisters face.

"Buffy, what's wrong? Oh God, it's Xander or Willow isn't it, what's happened?"

"Spike" Buffy replied barely above a whisper, she was surprised she even heard it herself.

"Spike?" Dawn questioned. Then she breathed deeply. She hated having to do this to her sister. It happened every time Buffy found something in the apartment that reminded her of Spike. She had made her sister stop buying weetabix, 'cos it reminded her of him, ad how he always used to add them to his blood before drinking it..

"Buffy. Spike's gone, you know that. I know you hate it, but he is." She pulled her sister into a hug.

"No, he's not, and I have to go see him" Buffy said as she pulled out of her sisters embrace.

She turned and headed for her bedroom. She pulled her kit bag down from the top of her wardrobe and began packing the necessities hastily. When she came out of her bedroom to go into the bathroom she heard Dawn listening to the answer machine. She stopped and listened again. '...love, I've missed you so much...' She had missed the warmth of his voice so much. The way it reminded her of the times he whispered in her ear, telling her he loved her so much.

She had gotten lost in the moment and didn't even realise that Dawn was now standing before of her, tears in her eyes too. She ran into the bathroom, and grabbed Buffy's wash kit.

"What are you doing?" Buffy asked her sister.

"You're going aren't you. To L.A I mean." Dawn replied as she headed straight past her and into Buffy's bedroom.

"Yeah, but aren't you coming with me?"

"What if Andrew calls, and wants to let us know he wont be home till late 'cos he's with some Italian chico's?" Dawn smiled. "In all seriousness, I think I'd be safer here, what with that apocalypse Spike was talking about. I mean, God knows I want to see Spike more than anything, but I'd feel safer knowing that world was ending over the other side of the world, not a few blocks away."

"Yeah, I'd feel safer too, I'll get Giles to come and stay with you. If you tell him what's happening I'm sure he'll come straight out.." Buffy said as she finished packing the bag.

Dawn reached under the bed and pulled out the scythe Buffy had used to slay the Ubervamps back in Sunnydale. Before, it had brought back painful memories to Buffy. She would see Spike burning up in the Hellmouth and feel the grief, anger and frustration that she had felt when he hadn't believed that she loved him. But now, that Spike was alive, she could only think of the happy memories she had shared with him, when they had fought together, and of the hours she had spent in his crypt.

"I think you're gonna need this. I expect you to do a lot of demon slaying for me" Dawn said as she handed it to her.

"You betcha" Buffy said taking it from her sister..

She grabbed her passport from the top draw of her dressing table, along with a small silver device with 3 jewels in it, each a different shade of blue. She stopped in the doorway to their apartment as Dawn passed her the bag. She took it from her, placed it on the floor and enveloped her sister in a crushing hug.

"Bring him back" She heard her sister whisper into her shoulder.

"I will" Buffy replied simply.

Buffy pulled back from her sister and looked into her eyes. "I promise."

She kissed her sister on the forehead, picked up her bag and left for the airport, as Dawn headed into the apartment to phone Giles.

The alley behind the Hyperion

Spike stepped out from the shadows surrounding the alley. "Boo" He said subtly. His face was bloodied from the fight with the Fell Brethren. The rain made the blood trickle down his face, and his hair was mussed up.

"Anyone else?" Angel asked Spike

"Not so far. You feel the heat? "Spike replied "It's coming." Angel said, looking towards the night sky. "Finally got ourselves a decent brawl." Spike agreed, as they both turned their attention to approaching footsteps coming from the other end of the alley. They started to raise their weapons, but stopped when they saw Gunn jogging with difficulty towards them carrying his homemade battle-axe. "Damn! How did I know the fang boys would pull through?" His steps became progressively less sure, weaker, "You're lucky we're on the same side, dogs, 'cause I was on fire tonight.. My game was tight."  
He almost collapsed as he reached them, but Angel and Spike caught him, helping him to a box on which he could sit down. Spike looked at Gunn's wounds and his hand as he lifted it away from his stomach and saw it was covered with blood. "You're supposed to wear the red stuff on the inside, Charlie boy." Gunn looked down at his wounds. He was shaking slightly now. "Any word on Wes?" Gunn looked up, and Spike and Angel swung round when something dropped to the ground behind them. They were met with the blue, deeply grieved face of Illyria  
"Wesley's dead." She said simply. Angel looked heartbroken, as Gunn started to cry and Spike hung his head. 'Poor bloke' he thought. God the guy had just lost Fred now this. If he was in Wesley's place and Buffy had been in Fred's he didn't know what he would have done. He probably would have staked himself as soon as Buffy's last breath fell from her beautifully oft lips. He missed her so much, and now he was going to die and he'd never gotten to see her face one last time.  
"I'm feeling grief for him." Illyria said mournfully, which brought Spike out of his reverie. !I can't seem to control it. I wish to do more violence." Illyria said with a little more sternness in her voice, as an awful din of roars, screeches and wails drew near. "Well, wishes just happen to be horses today." Spike replied as he turned to face the crowd, and a look of shock and horror fell across his face. "Among other things." He heard Angel say beside him. 

Hundreds, if not thousands, of demons of all sorts, shapes and sizes filled the alleyway and were drawing progressively closer. A huge winged dragon flew angrily toward them overhead.

"OK. You take the 30,000 on the left.." Gunn piped up. He was weak and could barely stand. "You're fading. You'll last 10 minutes at best." Illyria casually warned him. Gunn stood shakily, but seemed a little stronger "Then let's make 'em memorable." He said with an air of confidence. 

Angel stepped forward and Spike, Gunn and Illyria followed. Spike stood off to Angel's right side. Angel was flanked a step behind by Gunn on the right and Illyria on the left. They stared at the horde of demons approaching them in the alley.

"In terms of a plan?" Spike questioned Angel "We fight" Angel said plainly. 'That's helpful' Spike thought. "Bit more specific." Angel stepped forward. "Well, personally, I kind of want to slay the dragon." Angel raised his sword as the demon horde attacked. "Let's go to work." 

The demons came on them like a river breaking against a rock. Spike swung his sword up against the first demon to come into his line of attack, blocking the swing of its axe. He kicked upwards at the weapon and the demon lost its grip on it, and Spike took this opportunity to bring his sword up. He cut through the scaly skin of it's sternum, puncturing its lungs and leaving it gasping for air on the ground before giving up. He brought the sword up and swiped it at a second demon, and a third and a fourth taking each of their heads off in unison.

Around him, Gunn was making a brave, and rather successful effort to slay the demons that he came into contact with. A rather substantial number lay at his feet. 'Can't be beaten by a dying man, pull yourself together Spike' he said to himself. As he went back to slaying the vicious, and inhuman creatures that attacked.

Angel was busy stabbing, slicing and punching a vicious demon that resembled a lion with snakes for arms. He was slicing off the snake arms in turn, but more grew in its place. So he opted for slicing its head off. It dropped to the floor dead.

Illyria on the other hand, used no weapon at all, and was leaving a trail of destruction as she worked her way into the crowd. It seemed that her lust for more violence, and her grief over Wesley's death had fuelled her and make her into some sort of killing machine.

Spike was now being attacked by something that resembled an Ubervamps, and images came flashing back to him, of Buffy being stabbed in the hellmouth, and of him not being able to do anything 'cos of the damn amulet burning his insides up. His momentary lapse of concentration caused him to have his sword knocked out of his hand, and for the Ubervamp to grab him by the neck and hold him up against the wall of the alley. The Ubervamp squeezed his neck, and Spike felt that at any moment he mould snap his neck, and he would turn to ash. Images of Buffy raced through his mind. Her hair flowing in the breeze, the way she fought so gracefully, yet with a strength and will power he could never possess. The way her skin felt, the way her lips melted into his when they kissed and then the last time he saw her. When she had held his hand in the hellmouth, and their palms ignited. She told him she loved him, and although he wanted to believe her, he couldn't be sure, he didn't want to believe a lie just as he was about to burn up. Her face was fading now, becoming distant and dim. Then the glint of red and silver crossed his vision. It looked just like they scythe Buffy had retrieved from the vineyard after that night in the strangers house, where they had held each other and no words had been exchanged, after he had told why he loved her and she had asked him to hold her.

The Ubervamp holding him up, crumbled to ash as its neck was taken cleanly from its shoulders. Spike fell to the floor, and placed a hand to his neck. Then another, smaller, softer hand touched his neck where his hand was. It was like a small jolt of electricity coursed through him. He remembered this touch. He raised his head slightly and dared hardly believe. His eyes fell on the perfect form of Buffy Summers, tears of happiness in her eyes.

She fell to her knees before him and took the same device out of her pocket that she had taken form her apartment. She pressed the lightest coloured jewel, and a light shot up from it, which stopped a few inched above their heads and fell like a waterfall around the, enclosing them in a mystical force shield that resembled a bubble.

Buffy cupped his face in her hands, and he placed one hand on her hip and ran the other through her hair.

"Is it you?" He said, tears choking him. "Is it really you?" He added, running his thumb over her bottom lip.

She shortened the distance between them and their lips were centimetres apart.

"It's really me." She whispered as he closed the distance between them. Their lips met in the softest kiss.

Several times demons tried to attack the couple, lost completely in each other, but was thrown back to a great distance with tremendous force, as soon as it came into contact with the force shield. The demons life force seeped from it and added to the strength of the barrier. The rain bounced off the force shield, and where it hit, little sparks of pink and blue emitted.

TBC...


	3. There's a first time for everything

A Buffy pulled away for much needed air Spike rested his forehead on hers.

'God Buffy I've missed you so much' He whispered.

'I missed you too. I'm never letting you go again.' She replied and kissed him lightly on the lips to seal her promise as they gazed into each others eyes.

They were brought out of their musings by a piercing scream from above. Another winged beast swooped low, its claws outstretched. It was black and had scales covering the extent of its body.

'I think we should lend a hand' Buffy said.

As she stood the bubble grew to accommodate the new height. She pulled Spike up with her.

'Ready?' He asked her.

'Ready.' She replied.

Spike reached out of the bubble and picked up his discarded sword. It felt like he was putting his hand through jelly. He brought the sword into the confines of the shield. He swung it forward and around, over his shoulder and under his arm, each swing piercing the bubble but leaving no trace of an opening as the bubble formed a new seal over the opening.

'This is a nice trick luv.' Spike told Buffy as they stepped in the path of the beast, that had started to descend to ground level.

'Hope it holds' Spike said.

'So do I' replied Buffy a little worried.

Spike raided his scared eyebrow at her.

'I've never tried it on anything this big before' she replied meekly.

'Well there's a first time for everything' Spike told her confidently.

As the beast came dangerously close they both raised their swords in unison, upwards and came into contact with scaly flesh. Their swords pierced the beasts skin, and it let out a cry of pain. Their swords left long trails down the underside of its body and black blood rained down on the bubble and trickled down the sides leaving Buffy and Spike clean from the blood.

'Huh, added bonus. Stops icky demon guts from messing your hair up. Buffy smiled.

The beast landed and turned angrily towards them.

'Be back in a moment love' Spike said, quickly placing a soft kiss on Buffy's lips.

'What?' she replied stunned, but before she could say more Spike had dived out of the bubble, rolled head over heels perfectly on the floor, stood up and began running towards the beast..

'Spike!' she cried as he stopped and stood before the beast, sword raised.

'Come on then. Lets see what you got' Spike shouted at the beast.

The beast roared angrily and its great mouth came down around Spike's form, closed its mouth and swallowed him whole.

'SPIKE!' Buffy screamed.!


	4. What have i got left

'Spike!' Buffy screamed as the beasts mouth closed around him and swallowed him whole. She started to run towards the beast but her path was blocked by several demons with disfigured faces and who bore double headed axes. She turned as she ran and swiped the head off the first one to block her path. Then she jumped, somersaulted in mid air over another one, turned around and embedded the scythe in its back. She gave it a sharp twist and it dropped dead.

Buffy turned around to face the direction in which the beast was headed. She stormed towards it simply walking into the various demons that blocked her path. They flew away and hit the walls of the alley as they came into contact with the shield. It was now glowing a bright blue as their life-force seeped into it, but Buffy didn't care. She took the device out of her pocket and pressed the darkest stone and the shield retracted from the floor, back into the device. She stood in front of the beast and purposely dropped the scythe at her feet.

'COME ON THEN!' she shouted 'YOU WANT ANOTHER SNACK, WELL TAKE ME. YOU'VE TAKEN THE ONE THING I LOVED MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD, SO HELL, WHAT HAVE I GOT LEFT?'

She breathed shallowly, tears welling in her eyes.

'COME ON' she screamed one last time.

The beast stepped forward, an evil glint in its eyes. It opened its mouth and lowered it towards her.

Suddenly it stumbled and stopped in its tracks. It started to convulse. As Buffy stared at it a sword was thrust up through its thick hide from inside and swept across its spinal cord. A black clad figure covered in slime leapt out from inside the body about 10 feet in the air, turned and landed just behind its head.

'That's right., I'm back!' Spike shouted.

He lifted his sword high and rammed it into the beasts skull using his vampire strength. He twisted the sword and pulled it back out.

The beast crumbled to the floor beneath him and he jumped down to land before Buffy. She simply stared at him in disbelief. She grabbed him in a crushing hug, regardless of the slime coating her lover.

'Oh Spike, I thought I'd lost you.'

'Take more than a nasty beastie to take me away from you love' Spike replied.

She stepped back, looking into his eyes, pulled back a fist and punched him hard in the face.

'Ow' Spike complained

'Don't you EVER do that again' Buffy cried

Spike ran the back of his hand over her cheek. 'Promise'.

He looked down and picked up the scythe and handed it to her. 'You should keep a hold of this'

'Oh yeah, well I threw it down when I asked, well told the beast to eat me because I thought I'd lost you.' She accused.

Spikes eyes widened in horror.

'Hey' he grabbed her firmly by the shoulders. 'Don't you ever go all suicidal on me. If I die, I need you to continue fighting for me. The last thing I would ever want would be for you to die because of me. I love you too much.' He told her. 'Promise me'

'Spike...I'

'Promise' he said more sternly.

She kissed him lightly on the lips. 'I promise' She whispered with tears in her eyes.

'Now, lets get back to the job at hand' Spike said as he raised his sword and ran yelling towards a group of demons in rusty armour that were charging down the alley.

Buffy whirled around and started attacking the first demons she came into contact with, but before she could get any further she felt a crack on her head, and the world faded in a vision of stars and darkness.

She was thrown over the shoulder of a demon that looked more human than beastly, and that was clad in red robes. He used the shadows as cover to exit the alley with her.


	5. Shall we get down to business

Each remaining member of the gang killed the last of the demons they were fighting, with a renewed internal strength because they knew they were so close to achieving their goal.

Spike sliced his demon down the middle and turned around to see if Buffy needed any assistance. He knew she probably wouldn't, and that was another thing he loved about her. The way she could hold her own and kill an enemy with a few sweeps of a blade. As he looked around the alley he couldn't see any sign of her. No flowing blonde hair, no graceful movements of her arms delivering punches and kicks to demons heads.

His game face faded as he realised something was wrong. She wouldn't just leave. He ran over to where he had seen her last and he saw butchered demons everywhere, but the worst sight was the ownerless scythe lying on the floor.

'Oh shit' he breathed. 'Buffy'. He picked up the scythe and began desperately throwing aside carcasses of demons that lay in piles, frantically hoping and praying that he wouldn't find the cold and lifeless form of his lover lying under them.

Images filled his mind of the time Buffy had jumped off the platform into the portal to save the world and stop Glory. When he has seen her lifeless body lying on top of the debris, he just broke down. Her broken, motionless body simply lying there. When they had put her body in the ground he had wanted to stake himself there and then, and he would have done if he hadn't promised her that he would protect Dawn. She didn't belong in the ground, she belonged in the sun, a place he could never go, but every time she was with him it felt like he was basking in it. No burning flesh or organs exploding, just the warmth and pureness of its rays.

'Please, please don't let her be dead', he thought to himself.

'Spike what are you doing?' Angel shouted to the young vampire, as he saw him searching through piles of dead demons.

'I...I can't find her' He said, panic sounding in his voice.

'Illyria?' Angel thought to himself. Just then Illyria came to stand next to him. 'OK, not Illyria. Then who?'

'What is the blonde one doing?' questioned Illyria.

'Looking for someone apparently' Angel replied. He heard someone stumble and looked around to see Gunn cradling a badly injured arm, in addition to several body injuries.

'Check he's ok.' Angel instructed Illyria.

As Illyria went to help Gunn, Angel walked over to Spike. Tears were now evident in his eyes as he continued searching.

'Spike, who...' but he was cut short when his eyes fell on the weapon Spike now held securely in his hand. Buffy's scythe'

'Buffy' Spike replied, as if confirming Angel's thoughts.

'But she's in Rome' Angel said, still not believing that Buffy was here

Spike let out an angered and frustrated scream as he sunk to his knees. He wept silently into his hands.

'No she cant be dead, I've only just found her again. NO' he thought wordlessly.

'I have to find her.' He whispered as he slowly rose to his feet. He smelt the air, and picked up her scent almost immediately, even through the overwhelming power of the stench of blood. It was probably because the first few times they had been together he had memorised every single detail about her, and tested himself each time after that. They way her skin felt, the way her hair smelt, the way he could make her gasp if he kissed that certain spot on her neck, and most of all her scent. He could sense if she was coming even when he was sleeping.

He followed it to the end of the alley. He breathed a sigh of relief. Her scent lead away from the battle. At least she wasn't buried under one of the hundreds of piles of demon corpses.

'What do you mean Buffy's here?' Angel questioned Spike.

'Not now peaches' Spike replied as he ran off down the street, following her scent.

Angel turned back to survey the allay and carnage that lay there. If anyone could find Buffy, he knew Spike could. He also knew that Spike really loved Buffy and she loved him too. He could tell from the moment he had questioned her about it the last time he had been in Sunnydale. Besides he was just starting a great relationship with Nina, and he didn't want to jeopardise that by bringing up old feelings about Buffy. So he left it at that and went to the aid of his friends.

Spike had gone about 2 miles when her scent became even stronger. He could tell she was close. He turned the corner and found himself standing in front of the Wolfram & Hart building. He hadn't even noticed where he was headed. He was fixed purely on Buffy's scent.

This couldn't be good. What did Buffy want with Wolfram & Hart, or more than likely, what did they want with her? What were they going to do to her?! As that thought entered his mind he ran into the building as fast as he could.

In a dark room, Buffy awoke to feel a throbbing on the back of her head. As she went to feel it, her reach was cut short by the fact that her hands were chained to the ceiling. She yanked at them, but not even her slayer strength could break them.

'It's no use straining yourself slayer' a deep, throaty voice drawled from somewhere in the room.

'Mystical bonds can only be broken by spiritual means'

A light came on suddenly that bathed the room in a dim yellow. As Buffy's eyes adjusted to the light she could see she was in a an office. The edges of it remained darkened and a pair of yellow eyes stared at her out of the blackness.

'Who are you?' Buffy asked

'I don't think any of us have met' another voice answered from behind her. The eyes in front of her came out of the darkness and she discovered they belonged to a wolf. As she stared at it, an ebony black ram with horns that curled at the tip trotted into her line of view from behind her.

She laughed 'Please don't tell me you guys are Wolfram'

'How did you guess' the wolf asked

'Well, um, have you looked in a mirror recently?'

The wolf stepped forwards. 'Its nice to be recognised. As he stepped nearer, Buffy gripped the chains holding her arms and swung her unchained legs forwards to kick the wolf, but they stopped short of the wolf's face as they came into contact with a force shield. The wolf didn't even blink. Buffy drew back her legs in pain.

'No use trying to escape little girl. It'll only hurt more' the Ram said from the wolf. 'Now that you've seen our little security device I think we can take off the chains' and almost instantaneously they disappeared from around her wrists and she fell to the floor.

'Come on' the wolf told the ram, and they stalked out of the room.

Spike ascended the stairs 3 at a time as he followed her scent to a part of the building he had not been in before. He ran into the lobby and stopped. It looked exactly the same as Angel's floor, apart from the fact that all the décor was black, instead of pine. A light coming from an office to the right of him caught his attention. He ran to it and kicked the doors open. The first thing he saw was Buffy lying on the floor. Buffy looked up to see Spike standing in the doorway.

'Spike' she whispered.

As he ran towards her she shouted for him to stop, but before he could register what she had said he hit an invisible force and slumped to the floor in pain.

'Spike are you OK?' Buffy cried, unable to do anything.

'Yeah, I guess. I just wish these stars would go away' he said, swatting at the imaginary stars in front of him.

Buffy giggled as she looked at him. She loved him so much. She loved everything about him. The sarcasm, the protectiveness and the love he showed her.

Suddenly she remembered where they were.

'Spike you have to get out of here now!' Buffy told him desperately. She didn't know how long it would be before the wolf and ram came back.

'That's not even funny' Spike said as he got up and started looking round the room for something he could break the force shield with, without actually touching it himself.

'What?' Buffy asked him.

'You think I'm just gonna leave you here?'

'You'd better'

'Um, how about, NO'

'What do you mean no?'

'I'm not leaving you here. I just found you again. If I leave here, It'll either be with you or as particles of dust floating on the wind.' He stopped at how the last part of his sentence reminded him of what he had told her on her answer machine.

'Spike, remember what you told me in the alley, about how you wouldn't want me to die because of you.' Buffy told him as she stepped closer to the force shield, stopping short, as she felt its energy, not wanting to get hurt again.

'I don't want you to die for me either. Please go'

Spike walked towards the shield, and stopped in front of Buffy. He placed his hand short of the shield and Buffy raised her hand opposite his. The energy crackled across the small distance between them.

They stared into each other eyes, as Buffy's filled with tears. 'Please. I don't want you to die. I love you too much. I can't watch you die again.'

'Hey', he smiled at her. All he wanted to do was to brush the tears from her cheeks an hold her close. 'I'm not gonna die'.

'I think we may have something to say about that. As Spike looked to the door he was met by the sight of a wolf and a ram walking in, a wooden box floating 2 or 3 feet above them.

'I'm guessing you're the wolf and ram of Wolfram and Hart'

'Your as quick as your girlfriend' the ram replied.

As Buffy and Spike stared at them, the ram stepped in front of the wolf. The wolf opened its mouth to an unnatural size and the ram leapt into its mouth. In a flash of blinding red light a man stood before Buffy and Spike. His hair was the same silvery colour as the wolf's coat, and his eyes were clearly those of the wolf. He wore an ebony suit and horns protruded from his head, these features, clearly those of the rams.

'Now shall we get down to business?' The man said, his voice overtaken by the wolf in him.


	6. Where do i sign

Wolfram walked over to the desk opposite Buffy & Spike and placed the wooden box on it. Spike turned to look at Buffy to see if she had any idea as to what was going on, but she had the same puzzled look on her face has he had on his. Her eyes were filled with worry. If she lost him she didn't know if she could live with herself. If only he had left her when she had told him to he would be out of here and away from the danger she knew they were both in.

'Now,' Wolfram said as he leaned casually against the desk.

'I'm pretty sure your both thinking the same thing.' he laughed, well...actually I **know** you're both thinking the same thing.'

'You're both thinking that if the situation arises, you're going to sacrifice yourself for the other, am I right?'

Buffy and Spike exchanged worried glances, both knowing that he was right

'Of course I'm right. Now the question is, which one of you is actually going to sacrifice yourself'

Spike stepped forward. 'How would I know she'd be safe'

'Spike, no!' Buffy stepped forward completely forgetting the force shield and was thrown back as she cried out in pain. Spike spun round to see Buffy on the floor clutching her face.

'Buffy' he cried

'I'm fine, I'm fine' she said confidently as she got to her feet, and crinkled her nose trying to get the feeling back. 'God that hurt' She breathed. 'Now you stay there and shut up' She told Spike.

'Oh I don't think so luv. Now where was I, oh yeah, how would I know Buffy would be safe.'

'We always stick to our agreements, especially if the contract is signed in...' Wolfram reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen. '...blood'

'Please Spike, don't do this.' Buffy started to cry, 'I can't lose you. Please.' Spike hated more than anything to see her cry. Every time she did he just wanted to throw himself on a stake or walk outside during the middle of the day. But if he had to choose between seeing her tears or her lifeless body, he would chose the tears in a heart beat, if his heart beat that was.

'I have to love. I'm sorry.' He turned back to Wolfram. 'Lets see this contract then' Spike told Wolfram.

Wolfram balled his fist in front of him and opened it, palm facing upwards. A ball of fire, no bigger than a tennis ball erupted from his hand and a piece of parchment took its place. Wolfram placed it on the desk.

'So what am I singing for, other than Buffy's freedom?. You obviously want something from me' Spike asked Wolfram.

'Well, you may not know this but, earlier today Angel signed away his part in the Shanshu prophecy. He is now no longer a contender for the vampire with a soul. If you sign this contract the slayer will be protected and sent home. You on the other hand will not be so fortunate. You will unfortunately have to sacrifice your life. Well not unfortunately for us, maybe for you and your lover.' Wolfram sneered.

Spike couldn't believe this. Angel had signed away the shanshu prophecy just to make the circle of the black thorn believe he was one of them, even though he wasn't. Ever since he was re-souled, Angel had been fighting save the world and repent for his sins. Now all that was meaningless.

If he signed this contract, then he would die and this time, not be turned into a creature of the night. If he didn't sign it then Buffy would die. He turned to look at Buffy, she was crying so hard. He loved her too much to let her die.

Spike turned back to Wolfram. 'Where do I sign?' As he went to take the pen from him, Wolfram slammed the tip into his left hand that was resting on the table. Spike groaned in agony as he felt some of his blood being taken into the pen. Wolfram snatched the pen back out of Spike's hand as he gritted his teeth against the pain. Wolfram handed it to him. Tears were streaming down Buffy's eyes as Spike took it from him and put pen to paper to sign his destiny, his unlife, his love away.

As soon as the pen left the page, he was grabbed around the shoulders by something so powerful even his vampire strength couldn't contend against it. As he looked down they seemed to be plant like creepers. He was pulled backwards and slammed up against the wall. He looked up at Buffy as one grabbed him around the neck.

'I believe I held up my end of the bargain.' Spike told Wolfram.

'Yes, I guess so, and we are a man of our word. The slayer will be returned to her home and kept safe.' Wolfram replied.

'NO!' Buffy screamed. 'I'll do anything, please, just let him go!'

'You may say goodbye' Wolfram said, as he waved his hand and the shield surrounding Buffy was dropped. She ran over to Spike. She tried desperately to pull the creeper things away from him but he stopped her. 'Buffy, don't' he pleaded. He used one free had to stop her, placing it in front of her. She took his hand in hers and interlaced her fingers with his. The scene exactly as it had been that day in the hellmouth, apart form the fact that their interlocking hands were not surrounded by flames.

'I love you' She told him. She knew those 3 little words meant more to him than any long speech about her love that she could give him.

'I know you do. I love you too. Everything about you, Your eyes, your smile...' he touched each part as he spoke it. 'Your lips' he breathed as she leant up and placed her lips to his and kissed him softly. He opened his mouth and stroked her tongue with his. This last kiss conveying all their feelings for each other. Tear were filling Spike's eyes as he broke the kiss and stared into her eyes. 'God...' he choked 'I love you so much.' He breathed out a strangled breath.

Suddenly the world started to fade in a whirl of colours. The last thing she saw of her lover were his deep blue eyes conveying a last message of love to her.

She cried out his name, as she fell through the vortex of colours and found herself lying on her bed, in her room, in Rome.

'SPIKE!' she screamed as she leapt from her bed and opened her door. She ran through it towards her front door, not even acknowledging that Xander, Willow and Giles were the new additions to the household besides Dawn and Andrew. They had gotten the first flight to Rome when they had heard the news about how Buffy had gone to L.A to see Spike now that she knew he was alive.

When they had heard her scream out Spike's name Giles had leapt 3 feet off the couch, Xander had fallen off the couch and Willow had seemed the least shocked out of everyone. She had sensed a presence in the next room that had gotten there by magical means.

As she flew past them Willow asked her what was wrong. 'What, how what? Buffy's in L.A, not here. She's a demon impersonating Buffy.' Xander babbled. 'No she's not' Willow said simply. 'Its her, she got there by teleportation. I felt her presence forming in the room.'

As Buffy reached the door she grabbed the door handle, swung the door open and just as she tried to step over the threshold between her apartment and the hall she was thrown back as if she were a vampire trying to get into an humans house uninvited. Xander went to catch her as she fell, but she ignored him and jumped up again and threw herself at the door again. Once more she was thrown back, but got up again, but instead of running at the door she hammered at the invisible barrier with her fists.

'Spike' she whimpered in-between sobs, as she sunk to the floor realising that she wasn't going to be able to get through it. Willow and Xander both walked over to her and knelt before her.

'Buffy, what happened' Willow asked.

'I...I told him not to, but he wouldn't listen. God, I hate him.' She burst into floods of tears then, as she realised she was never going to see him again. 'No I don't,' she breathed in a shaky, tear filled breath 'I love him. I love him so much, and he...now he's gone' She couldn't control her tears. Xander held her as she cried into his shoulder.

Dawn spoke up for the first time since Buffy's reappearance in their apartment. 'Where's Spike gone Buffy?' She didn't want to push her sister, but she had to know what had happened in L.A. Her sister had left to get on a plane to see the man she loved, and had thought was dead, and was now here again crying her eyes out.

Buffy looked up with red, puffy, tear filled eyes. She tried to get her tears under control to tell her what had happened, after all Spike was like a brother to Dawn. He had looked after her when Buffy had died, had undergone horrendous torture to protected Dawn's identity as the Key from Glory and had always protected her with his life. 'I found him and...and I got taken, and now...now Wolfram have made him sacrifice himself for me. I...I can't live without him.'

She broke down crying again. She was exhausted and Xander picked her up in his arms and carried her to her room and lay her on her bed where her crying softened a she fell to sleep. Xander stayed with his friend as Willow tried to work at removing the barrier preventing them from leaving the house.


	7. That's where you come in

As Spike stood strapped to the wall his beautiful slayer disappeared before him. The last thing he saw of his lover were her hazel eyes filled with tears, for him. If someone had told him when he had come to Sunnydale for the first time, all those years ago, that William the Bloody and the vampire Slayer would have fallen in love, and that she would be crying over him as he sacrificed himself so that she would live, he would have probably broken their neck before they could breath another word of it to anyone. But now, he didn't care about any of that, not his reputation as the slayer of slayers, the big bad, none of it. All he cared about was Buffy and that she was safe in Rome, just as Wolfram had promised.

He had no regrets, other than the fact that he would never again touch her smooth, soft warm skin or hold her close, feel her heated breath on her skin as she kissed him softly or ran her hands over his body. Never again would he be able to look deeply into her eyes and see all the love and compassion she held for him as she lay beside him in his arms.

He closed his eyes to hold back the tears and leaned his head back against the wall and clenched his teeth to stop himself from screaming as these thoughts washed over him.

'That was so touching' Wolfram mocked as he placed a hand over his chest.

Spike opened his eyes and stared angrily at Wolfram, the vampire within threatening to overcome him and beat the shit out of Wolfram for taking Buffy away from him just as they'd found each other once more. He had to control himself, for Buffy's sake. If he didn't follow through with the deal he couldn't even begin to imagine the terrible things they could do to Buffy.

'Broke my heart. Not that I have one of my own. Have to borrow one you see, and after a while it needs replenishing, and that's where you come in.' He said to Spike.

'I thought you wanted to kill me. Taking away my hearts not gonna do that, or do you need to brush up on your knowledge of vampire destruction just a little bit? There's nothing there, just a few dried up tendons, muscles. Not really in working order I'm afraid.' Spike retaliated.

Wolfram just looked at Spike with a bored, humoured look on his face.

'Seriously, take a look.' Spike told Wolfram sarcastically.

'OK' Wolfram replied and waved a hand in front of him. The creepers shrunk away from his chest and a large rip appeared in his shirt. Before he could decipher what was going on the skin covering Spike's heart tore apart leaving a gaping gash across it. Spike screamed in agony as he looked down at his open chest. Wolfram admired it. Spike's heart resembled beef jerkey, the same stuff you give to dogs. The hundred plus years he had been dead had meant that his heart no longer had blood running through it. It looked exactly as Spike had described it.

'Your right.' He waved his hand again and the hole closed up again and the creepers resumed their place over Spike's upper torso, although the rip in his shirt still remained. 'But appearance isn't everything dear boy. A heart doesn't have to be healthy and full of blood to be of value to us. A vampire's heart can retain the necessary properties for up to 1000 years.' Wolfram stated in a manner of fact sort of way.

'And what properties are these?' Spike questioned

'Ah now that would be telling, and we don't want to share everything on the first date now do we?' Wolfram replied. 'No that's better kept till we move on to third base.' His tone was mocking and sarcastic. Wolfram stood up from the desk and moved slightly closer to Spike. 'Are you up for a threesome?' He asked.

Just as Spike was about to ask what the hell was going on his attention was turned towards the door as it flung open and a bruised and bloody Angel was dragged through it by a demon that resembled 'the beast' that he had fought with not so long ago. The beast threw Angel at Wolfram's feet.

'Thank you. That will be all.' Wolfram said, and the beast disappeared like a light retracting in on itself.

Angel groaned as he opened his eyes to see Spike held to the wall. 'Spike? What's going on, what are you...Oh' Angel stopped and groaned in pain as he tried to get to his feet but found it too painful and rolled back onto his side.

'That's what I want to know.' Spike asked Wolfram. 'What's peaches got to do with this? I thought this was a deal between me and you.'

Angel turned over and saw Wolfram towering over him. 'You!' he groaned

'YOU know HIM!' Spike asked Angel. Angel managed to get to his feet with difficulty, but still couldn't stand properly so he slouched slightly.

'YOU made a deal with HIM?!' Angel asked Spike angrily. 'What the hell do you think your playing at? He's Wolfram, you know of Wolfram and Heart, the big bad we've been trying to get rid of! We don't make deals with him' Angel shouted weakly and pointed at Wolfram. 'He NEVER keeps his word!'

Spike felt as though a hand had been thrust inside of him and had ripped out his insides, leaving him hollow and fear and horror filled the emptiness. He looked up at Wolfram with terror and anger in his eyes. Wolfram glared and a small smile played across his lips.

'You...no. You can't' Spike babbled as he fought with his restraints. He didn't care about the deal anymore. If it had all been a lie, Buffy could be anywhere, having ANYTHING done to her. 'You promised she'd be safe!'

'Who'd be safe? What IS going on?' Angel asked. Then it clicked. 'Buffy' he breathed. Even though he didn't love her in the way Spike did he still cared for her and the thought that she could be being hurt at this very moment chilled him to the bone. Just as he was about to launch himself at Wolfram, it was as though he had read his mind. The same type of creepers that held Spike launched at Angel and he dodged a few of them but they were too quick for him and he was pulled back and strapped to the wall opposite Spike.

'She is safe.' Wolfram replied. 'For the moment...'

Buffy lay on her bed with Xander at her side stroking her hair softly. She slept a dreamless sleep, unknowing of the danger she was in. The figure laying next to her changed from Xander to a muddy green colour and took on a totally different shape. It's hands changed to two pincer type claws that continued to stroke Buffy's hair. All around her the walls changed to black and the furniture in the room disappeared to be replaced by devices of torture. The demons posing as Willow, Giles, Dawn and Andrew all changed to their demon form and resembled the demon that was with Buffy at that very moment. The apartment faded, and darkness and emptiness filled its place.

Buffy lay quietly on the bed as a cold breeze lifted the hair from her face and she shuddered slightly, but was none the wiser.

* * *

Buffy sat on her couch late one night watching some old romantic movie that had such cheesy lines and music it made you want to vomit, but she was a romantic girl at heart so she sat with a tub of ice cream wrapped in a blanket watching the movie intently. Dawn was staying over at Janice's and wouldn't be home till late the next day. She had been patrolling and staked a few vamps, but nothing too eventful. Just as she was really getting into the movie the doorbell rang. She placed the tub of ice cream on the coffee table, wrapped the blanket around her (as she was wearing a black short nightie) and went to answer the door. Who would be calling at this hour of the night bewildered her. She opened the door and the sight that met her eyes made her breath catch in her throat. Spike stood at her door, dressed in black leather pants and a black shirt that was unbuttoned and revealed his beautifully sculpted abs and pecs that gave off a slight silver glow in the moonlight. His hair had that 'just been shagged' look and he was without his duster but held a red, long stemmed rose in his left hand. Their eyes locked, his deep baby blue eyes bore intensely into hers. As he handed her the rose he took her hand in his and rubbed it gently with his thumb. He brought it up to his mouth and kissed it softly.

With Spike standing there looking like he did, and the way his lips felt on her hand, she couldn't hold back. She pulled her hand from his and dropped the blanket. She wound both arms around his neck, and pulled his head down into a passionate kiss letting the rose fall to the floor. Spike sucked on her bottom lip and she quested entrance into his mouth with her tongue as he moved his hands to her waist and lifted her up. She immediately wrapped her legs around his waist as he granted her access and she slipped her tongue in. Their tongues duelled as they caressed the other, never breaking contact as Spike stepped over the threshold and Buffy kicked the door shut. Spike turned them around and pushed Buffy against the door as she closed her eyes, trying to take in all the sensations flooding her body.

When she opened her eyes she looked down to her hand and found there was a stake in it. 'What the hell' she thought to herself. All of a sudden it was as though she had no conscious control over her arm. She raised the stake and her gaze fixed on Spike. She thrust the stake deep into his heart and he arched forward in pain. 'No' she gasped. 'God no, Spike NO!' She pulled the stake out of his heart and blood tricked from the hole.

'Buffy' Spike breathed as he started to dust. All around her voices echoed. 'Why did you do it Buffy?', 'You killed him', 'It should have been you', 'He died for you'. As she reached out to touch him he exploded into ash.

'SPIKE' she screamed.

Buffy woke with a scream. As she opened her eyes she found she wasn't in her room. She was lying on the floor of a cold granite like room that was dark.

'Where am I?' she thought. 'Spike' she cried. As she stood up she was pulled back. She looked up into the staring eyes of a demon that resembled a bug. It turned into a snarling demon dressed in some sort of armour, complete with plumed helmet. The demon had lots of pointed teeth and wrinkly yellowish-grey skin. It took one of the implements from the wall. A spiked pole. 'Lets see how your boyfriend earned his nickname shall we?' It rasped. It ripped open Buffy's shirt and stuck it into her stomach. A blinding pain ripped though her body and she screamed in pain.

As Spike stood strapped to the wall a scream echoed through the building. He knew who that scream belonged to and it chilled him to the bone. He knew that was a scream in pain. Buffy, his Buffy was being hurt and he was helpless to do anything.

Another scream was heard and he tried with all the strength he could muster to get out of the restraints, but the more he struggled, the more they tightened.

'YOU BASTARD! MAKE IT STOP!' Spike screamed at Wolfram.

'I will.' Wolfram said, and turned to walk out of the room, an evil glint in his eye. He stopped at the door. 'After I've had a little fun with her.' He walked out of the room as another of Buffy's scream reached Spike's ears.


	8. We have to do something

Spike couldn't take anymore. Before, the screams of young women had been music to his ears, but now, hearing Buffy's pained cries were his ultimate torture. He was praying silently that Buffy would pass out before the torture could continue and she would be saved from suffering for a short while. He couldn't depend on that though, he had to do something. Standing there whilst his lover was tortured made him feel so futile.

'We have to do something Angel, NOW' Spike begged his grand-sire as another of Buffy's screams could be heard. 'God he's killing her. We have to get out of here.' He struggled again with his restraints.

'Don't fight it, they'll only get tighter.' Angel instructed Spike. 'Have you got anything to cut them with?'

Spike could just about move his hand to his pocket, and did so subtly so that the creeper did not tighten. He did not expect to find anything but tried his luck anyway, and it appeared that luck was on his side. His hand brushed against a circular, metallic object. He enclosed his fist around it and pulled it out gently. As he looked down he saw it was the device Buffy had used to form the shield around them in the alley.

'What's that?' Angel asked.

'It's Buffy's. She must have...'

_flashback_

'..._Your lips' Spike breathed as she leant up and placed her lips to his and kissed him softly. She took the shield device out of her pocket and placed it gently into the pocket of Spike's duster without him knowing._

_end flashback_

Spike knew that two of the jewels controlled the shield, but Buffy hadn't used the third jewel yet. Spike took his chances and pressed it. A burst of green energy emitted from the device turning the creepers to dust leaving Spike standing free.

He threw the device to Angel, who caught it at his waist with his one free hand. He pressed the same jewel Spike, had and within a few seconds he too was creeper free.

Now that Spike stood the chance of actually doing something to save Buffy, he ran out of the room and into the lobby to get his bearings. Angel came to stand behind him.

'You recognise this area?' Spike questioned him.

'It's familiar, but...I don't know' Angel replied.

Another of Buffy's screams could be heard.

'Screw where we are, I just have to get to Buffy' Spike said, and ran in the direction he had heard the screams coming from, Angel hot on his heels.

After descending a few floors, he turned a corner and found himself at a wall of blue and orange flames. 'Whoa, bloody hell' he cried as he stopped short and stumbled back. He knew Buffy was behind there because he could sense her. He was just about to jump through the flames when Angel grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back and around the corner.

'What the fuck do you think your playing at?' Spike demanded.

Angel put a hand over his mouth to quieten him. He pointed towards the fire and through the licks of flame he could see the back of Wolfram standing over an unconscious Buffy and a demon at his side holding instruments of torture. The demon went to use the implement on Buffy but Wolfram stopped him.

'Enough. It's no fun if they aren't conscious. No screaming you see. We'll continue this when she wakes up.' Wolfram instructed him. He turned and walked out of the room through the flames. They parted for him, and he walked straight past where Spike & Angel were hiding.

'I'll get Buffy, you take care of demon boy there.' Spike told Angel, and before Angel could do anything Spike ran and dived head first through the flames, quickly enough so that they wouldn't catch him alight.

The demon turned to face him. Spike ran for him and leapt over him, doing a somersault over his head. As the demon turned around to face Spike he was knocked to the floor by Angel who was now wearing his game face.

Spike turned his attention to Buffy's unconscious form that was strapped to the table by iron cuffs. Nothing could prepare him for the sight that greeted him. Buffy lay on the table, pale and a drops of sweat glistened on her forehead. Her body was covered in deep bloody gashes and welts. She was bruised and battered and the thought that someone had done this to her infuriated Spike so much that he walked up behind the demon, grabbed him by the head and twisted his neck. It snapped and he slumped to the floor dead.

'Hey, I was just getting started on the guy' Angel complained.

'Oh take your anger out on his corpse, we have to hurry though' Spike said as he turned back to Buffy and ripped the cuffs from around Buffy's wrists and ankles. He stroked a stray piece of hair away from her face and kissed her forehead gently. He had found his Buffy again after thinking that he would never see her again. All he needed now, was for her to open her beautiful eyes and for them to be away from here before Wolfram could hurt her again.

Spike placed one arm under Buffy's back and the other under her knees and lifted her up. He cradled her to his body and held her close, her head resting on his shoulder. 'Lets go peaches' he called to Angel, who was pummelling the corpse of the demon. Angel looked up and his game face faded as he saw Buffy in Spike's arms. 'Is she gonna be ok?' Angel asked him. Spike looked down and whispered to himself, 'God I hope so'.

Spike walked over to the barrier of flames and looked down at the dishevelled and wounded Buffy. He pulled her even closer to his body and shielded her with it before her leapt through the flames. He landed on the other side in a crouch and looked at Buffy to make sure she was unharmed by the flames.

'We need to get her somewhere safe and clean up those wounds before we attempt any great escape. Wolfram will know by now that we're gona and he'll be watching the exits' Angel informed Spike.

Spike was impressed by Angel's intuition. Spikes only thought would have been to get Buffy out of the building and as far away as possible. 'Where do you suggest?' Spike asked him.

Angel pondered this for a few moments before he said 'my office.'

'Well what are we waiting for?' Spike said as he started to make his way to Angel's floor.

After about 5 minutes they had reached Angel's floor and Buffy was still unconscious. Debris littered the floor. A couple of concrete support beams had fallen from the ceiling onto the lobby floor.

'Someone had fun!' Spike commented

As Spike neared Angel's office he noticed the lifeless body of Hamilton amongst the debris he saw two puncture marks on his neck.

'A lot of fun' Spike quipped.

'Oh yeah. He said his blood was full of ancient power or something. Used it to my advantage' Angel told him as they entered his office. 'We should take her up to my apartment. I have some band aids and stuff up there. She'll be safer there.'

Spike followed Angel to his elevator. They entered it and Angel pushed the button as they started to ascend. As they stopped the doors opened and they both stepped through.

Spike carried Buffy over to Angel's bed and laid her on it gently. She was still so pale and this worried Spike. 'Shouldn't her slayer healing have kicked in by now?' he thought to himself as Angel went to the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit. 'Sort her out, I'm gonna cover this window with something, before the sun rises.'

Spike looked up. He hadn't even realised the window had been broken. He turned his attention to the kit on the bed and took from it what he needed.

He took Buffy's shirt off gently and inspected the wounds on her body. She had several bad puncture wounds in her stomach. They reminded him of the marks he used to leave when he tortured his victims with railroad spikes back in the early 1900's. He knew how much pain that had caused his victims, and he couldn't bear the thought that someone had done that to Buffy. He pushed those thoughts aside and concentrated on helping Buffy. He'd use his repented anger to do some serious damage on Wolfram if he met him again.

After clearing up her torso, he moved to inspect her hands. She had deep cuts in them that still bled slightly. Her beautiful body had been abused, and the thought sickened him. A lone tear escaped from his eye.

'I've done the best I can peaches' Spike told Angel after cleaning up Buffy's injuries. 'Can you keep an ear out for our buddy Wolfram. I just wanna lay with her for a while.'

Angel nodded to him and went back to covering the window. Spike went round to the other side of the bed and took off his duster, laying it over her. He spooned up against her, wrapping his arms around her securely. He thought he had lost her for good when he had made that deal, but now that she was back in his arms, he would not leave her again. He rested his chin in the crook of her neck and kissed her cheek softly.

Buffy felt different. She no longer felt the coldness or loneliness she had while the demon had tortured her into unconsciousness. She felt warm and safe. She feared it was another dream, and if she dared open her eyes she would be back in that room. The room she had believed had been her home, but was actually a chamber and was filled with torture devices. But wait, there was something else. She could no longer smell the burning metal, or flesh. Instead she could smell... whisky, and... tobacco. This smell had always made her feel safe, it was a scent that belonged to one person, that person was...

Buffy shot bolt upright like a bullet out of a gun.

'Spike' she cried, as she realised she wasn't in the chamber. She was in a totally different room. Firm arms gripped her shoulders and she was afraid she would turn around to the glaring eyes of the demon. She looked down and found she was laying on a bed, covered by a coat, a black, long coat. A voice sounded behind her.

'hey, shh. Its alright. I'm here love' She turned around and saw Spikes deep blue eyes staring into hers. She flung herself into him, and he wrapped his arms around her. She started sobbing wildly.

'Oh god, Spike. I thought I'd lost you. I...I'

'Shh, you haven't. I'm right here' He ran his hand through her hair. Tears were also falling from his eyes now.

Buffy leant back slightly so she could look into his eyes. He was really there. 'Spike' she whispered and brushed his lips with hers, as light as a feather, before pushing him down on the bed. He pulled her face down to his and kissed her deeply as she laced her fingers with his. They kissed like there was no tomorrow, tongues diving in and out of each others mouths. Spike kissed her intensely, taking her face in his hands, fingers sliding up through her hair till his thumbs pressed against her ears. Spike gasped as Buffy's hands glanced across his sides, gathering the fabric of his shirt. He suddenly remembered where they were, and pulled back unwillingly. Buffy wouldn't let him go, and captured his lips with hers again.

'Buffy love...' He trailed off as she bit lightly on his bottom lip. He started to kiss her again, but pulled back before he could get lost in the moment again.

'Buffy,' he placed two fingers over her lips. 'We've got an audience'

'Huh?' she said as she looked over Spikes shoulder and saw Angel staring out of the window, pretending not to see that couple lying on his bed. It reminded him too much of the time he had dreamed Spike was making love to Buffy, when Eve had put the parasite on his body.

'Oh I didn't even notice, I was...' He was cut short, by the sound of his personal elevator activating. Angel grabbed a sword off the wall and chucked it to Spike, who caught it by the handle. Angel grabbed another one and he walked over to the left side of the elevator. Spike took Buffy by the hand and led her to Angel's bathroom.

'You stay in here.' He told her.

'I can fight' Buffy replied indignantly.

Spike looked her up and down 'no offence love, but you really don't look up to it. Now stay here'

He pulled the door shut and went to stand opposite Angel on the other side of the elevator doors.

As the elevator stopped whirring he raised his sword ready to attack. The doors opened and...

TBC


	9. Your too late

The doors opened and just as Angel and Spike lowered their swords in unison, they stopped a few centimetres short of the necks of... Connor.

'Whoa easy with the swords swinging. You could take someone's head off!' Connor cried.

'What the hell do you think your doing here?!' Angel asked him. .

Spike walked over to the bathroom and opened the door to a very pissed off looking Buffy. She looked him up and down. 'Oh well, its good to see your not dead' She accused him. Spike smiled at her with that cocky, lopsided grin he always did. She melted like butter and took his offered hand. He helped her walk over to where the others were as she rested her head on his shoulder.

'I followed your scent to the alley looking for you and I...' Connor told Angel

'I thought I told you to go home' Angel said.

'I wanted to fight! I still remember everything I learnt from you, before you did the magic mojo on me. I know I was a damn good fighter. I've got the vampire agility and...' he trailed off under Angels glare. 'Just saying is all'

Angel merely shook his head 'well you're here now'

'He's a vampire?' Buffy asked confused.

'Well not technically. I mean, sure he has vampire in his blood.' Angel replied.

'Do you wanna explain a bit more with the fullness. Still no clue as to what's going on.' Buffy asked, still confused. She looked to Spike for some answers.

'Well, the blue haired chick in front of you, that's Illyria. She's an ancient goddess who took over a friends body a few months back, and this is Connor.' He turned his attention to Angel. 'I thought he was just a case you were helping out? Why's he have vampire in him, and why's he here?'

'I'm his son.' Connor replied without realising that neither Buffy or Spike knew about this. Then it clicked. 'Oh, you guys didn't know that. It's a long story but the short version of it would go something like, he and Darla slept together, I was born. Taken to a hell dimension where I grew up really fast, which explains the fact that I'm not like two years old. Came back, tried to kill him countless times. Slept with Cordy, she gave birth to ultimate evil, then he killed me, giving me a new life until that was trashed and, that's it in a nutshell.' Connor looked impressed with himself. 'Wow, I do remember a lot.'

Buffy and Spike simply gazed at him, mouths slightly open, and blank looks on their faces. Both tried to speak a couple of times, but the words wouldn't form.

Buffy finally found her voice. 'Ok not what I was expecting...You slept with Cordy! My god that girls gonna have a lot of explaining to do.'

'Um Buffy' Angel spoke for the first time in a while. 'Cordy's dead.' Angel said simply. Both Connor and Buffy looked heartbroken.

'How, when did she...' Buffy asked.

'A few months back.' Angel said quietly, a single tear fell down his cheek as he remembered how Cordy had kissed him that one last time, and then he had got the phone call...

_flashback_

_Angel picked up the phone _

"_Hello. Yes, I know. She's... but that's impossible. She's standing right—"  
He turned to look for Cordelia, but she's wasn't there; he could almost feel his dead heart break. _

"_I'm sorry. Yeah."His voice became choked "When did she die? Did she, um... she never did wake up? I see."  
He hung up the phone and looked up to where Cordelia was standing moments earlier.  
"Thank you." He whispered as he realisation hit him. _

_End flashback_

Angel breathed in a shaky breath and turned away from the group.

This was too much for Buffy to handle. Angel had a son! It didn't hurt her, but weren't vampires supposed to be unable to have children? And Cordy was dead, and no-one had told her. She felt her knees weaken and the floor came rushing to meet her. Before she could greet it fully Spike had caught her and scooped her up into his arms.

'Come on love, don't be fainting on me now, you've just woken up' He told her as he carried her over to the bed. He laid her down and kneeled on the floor beside her. He took her hand and kissed it lightly.

'I'm sorry, it's just, too much information you know.' She smiled sheepishly. She hated looking weak in front of Spike. She wanted to be his strong powerful slayer, not a weak and pitiful one.

'Hey it's alright. I know what you mean. Who would have thought peaches would have offspring eh?' Spike said as he brushed a strand of her beautiful, golden hair behind her ear.

She could see the worry in his eyes. Was she thinking about the child she could have possibly had with Angel. She took his hand and pressed her lips to his palm. 'I don't care about that you know. Angel having a child. That doesn't matter to me. I love you and only you.'

Connor walked over to his father and placed a hand on his shoulder. Angel turned to meet the questioning gaze of his son.

'How did...how did she die?' Connor asked.

Angel took a shaky unnecessary breath. 'um, after she gave birth to Jasmine, you remember her don't you?'

Connor nodded as Angel continued, 'she slipped into a coma after that. A few moths back, she came back, to help me get back on track, but it turned out she never woke up. Some powers that be thing. I never really understood it.

Connor nodded. He could see the pain in his fathers eyes and didn't want to press the matter any further.

'So who's the blonde chick with Spike?' Connor asked Angel.

'That's Buffy' Angel replied. Right about now he thought that he'd probably admitted more in the past five minutes than he had in the past five years.

'Buffy? The Slayer!'

'Yeah. Remember how I told you how I'd been sent to a hell dimension by my girlfriend after you put me in that coffin and thrown me into the ocean.'

'Yeah. Did I mention how sorry I was about that.'

'I don't think so. But its in the past, so lets forget about it huh. Anyway that's her'

'Oh right.'

Buffy had listened in to their conversation up until Angel had explained about Cordy's death. She turned her gaze to Spike, a tear falling down her cheek. Spike wiped it away with his thumb. She brought a hand up to his cheek.

'Don't ever leave me' She whispered

'I won't' He whispered back as she pulled him into a passionate kiss, but broke off suddenly.

'Dawn!' she cried.

Angel looked up and saw the rays coming in the windows.

'Its ok Buffy, the windows are Necro-tempered so the rays aren't harmful' Angel replied.

'Ok I have no idea what that means, but cool anyway. No not that. Dawn, I have to phone her. Tell her everything's ok for now.'

Angel threw Spike his phone. 'Use this in case Wolfram's monitoring the phones.' Spike caught it and handed it to Buffy, who dialled the number. After a few rings it picked up and a male voice she recognised and missed came down the line.

'Hello?'

'Xander? What are you doing there?'

'Buffy. Oh thank god your alright. Dawn phoned me and told me what was happening and I came straight out. Giles still isn't here. His plane got delayed. Are you alright?'

'Yeah, I guess. If you define alright as 'being stuck hiding in a building from an evil bad ass', then everything's ok.'

'Oh right so just a normal life in the day of Buffy Summers then.'

'Indeed it is. Is Dawn there?'

'Yeah hold on I'll just get her'

Buffy heard the phone being put down on the table and inexpressible mumbling coming from the other end when someone picked up.

'Buffy. Oh my god are you ok?'

'I'm fine Dawnie'

'You must have kicked some major ass, cos, well the world didn't end.

'Yeah I guess you could say that'

'Why. What's wrong?'

'Oh nothing. Don't worry about it'

'But your ok right?'

'Yeah'

'Um, is Spike...is he um...'

'He's right here'

'Can I talk to him'

'She wants to talk to you' Buffy said as she handed the phone to Spike. He took it and put it to his ear.

'Hey nibblet'

'Oh Spike, is it really you?'

'Yeah, its me. How've you been?' he was appalled at himself and mouthed silently to himself 'how've you been? God' yeah that was a great way to start a conversation with someone who thought you were dead.

'Ok, but Buffy's been the worst. She seemed ok at first until we got to Rome and everything settled down. She would cry for days at a time. She was like that for months. I heard her talking to you at night, just like you did when Buffy...' she trailed off. 'But it's ok now, cos your back'

'Yeah. You, me and big sis have a lot of catching up to do. We should...'

Then an explosion on the other end of the line stopped him dead.

'lil bit? Dawn? Dawn! Are you there?!' Spike yelled down the line. He looked at Buffy, panic filling every inch of him.

'What is it! What happened!' she pleaded.

Then a voice came down the line. 'Your too late William.'

Spike filled with a blind fury

'Wolfram!'

'You should have stayed put like a good boy.' Wolfram sneered down the line

'You lay one finger on her' Spike yelled. He heard Dawn whimper on the other end of the phone.

'Oh. Looks like I already did. Ta ta!

The line clicked dead.


	10. I suppose i can deal with you first

Spike threw the phone against the wall smashing it to pieces.

'Hey! What'd you do that for?' Angel cried

Spike turned to him, 'Wolframs got Dawn and the Whelp. We have to get over there now!'

'Um, what's wrong with Buffy?' Connor asked as he looked at Buffy who showed no sign of emotion on her face, sitting upright and simply staring into space.

'Buffy love, no, don't do this again.' Spike begged as he sunk to his knees by the bedside, and shook her gently by the arms. She merely flopped about like a rag doll.

'What is it?' Angel asked coming over to Spike and Buffy.

'She thinks its her fault, that Dawns been captured. She went like this when Glory took Dawn before.' He turned his attention back to Buffy. 'Come on love, its not your fault, please.' Then it suddenly dawned on him. 'Red, we need red. She got her out of it before.'

'Red. Who's red?' Angel asked.

'Willow. She went into Buffy's mind and got her out of it. I need to phone her.' Spike replied frustrated. 'He picked up the phone on Angels bedside cabinet. They could use the landlines now they knew Wolfram wasn't anywhere in the building, possibly monitoring their movements. 'I don't know her number, you got it peaches?' Spike asked, trying to remain calm.

Angel quickly hurried over to his desk and pulled out a personal organiser and flipped to 'W' in the phone book section. He read off the number to Spike, who dialled it. It was a Brazilian number. He remembered Andrew telling him that's where she was based at the moment. He was so anxious for it to pick up, that as soon as the ringing stopped and someone picked up he yelled down the phone, 'Willow is that you?' before the receiver had a chance to speak.

'Spike?' He heard Willows unmistakable voice down the phone. 'What in goddess' name are you...'

'No time to explain. Please, I need your help, its Buffy.'

'What's happened?'

'You know that time Glory took Dawn and she went into that, non responsive daydream thing. Well its happened again'

'What! Glory's back?'

'no, its someone else. Wolfram. As in 'of Wolfram and Hart'. Please I need your help.

'Alright, where are you?'

'At Wolfram and Hart.'

'More specifically?'

'Angel apartment'

'Right hold on.'

There was silence on the end of the line, then he heard something behind him. He spun round to be met by...Willow.

'How did you...' Spike asked, baffled.

'Teleportation' she said simply. 'I cant believe its you. How did this happen?'

'We'll save the catching up for later. Please just help Buffy first.'

'Alright' She started to walk past him, but he stopped her.

'Before that, can you get me over to Rome. I need to save Dawn and the Whelp.'

'He's got Xander too! Ok take my hands'

'Wait a sec.' He walked over to Buffy, took her hands and kissed her lightly on the cheek. 'I'll protect her. Till the end of the world.' He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. 'Even if that happens to be tonight.' Only he and Buffy knew what that promise meant. 'I love you.' He took her hand in his and kissed her palm softly. He turned unwillingly from her, and took Willows hands.

'Close your eyes.' She instructed him. He did as told as she muttered something under her breath. In a flash of swirling colours, he felt his body being taken apart, molecule by molecule. He heard Willows voice filling his mind. _'Stay still we're almost there'_. Suddenly he felt his body reconnecting.

'Ok' he heard Willow say. He opened his eyes and found they were standing at the end of a corridor.

'Its just down there' Willow informed him. The he did something he'd never done before. He hugged Willow. 'Thank you' he whispered.

'No problem' she replied, returning his embrace. She pulled back. 'I'll sort Buffy out. Now go!'

Spike turned and ran towards the blackened remains of a door. He stepped in the doorframe and remembered the barrier. He looked up and saw Wolfram had his back to him and was holding Dawn up by and invisible force. Xander was unconscious by the couch. Dawns eyes connected with his and she saw he couldn't get in. Wolfram turned his head to see what Dawn was looking at. 'Come in' she yelled before Wolfram threw her across the room, but the invitation had already been give and Spike stepped over the threshold.

'No matter. I suppose I can deal with you first' Wolfram said.

'Your not gonna go anywhere near her again! ' Spike told him.

'Funny. I recall you used a similar threat before to defend that brat. Didn't work though. She still got hurt and, you lost your whore for a while. If only she had stayed dead!'

This was enough to fuel the fire already burning in his. He looked over Wolframs shoulder out of the window and saw it was still night over here. He used his vampire speed to run full force at Wolfram. He collided with him and they both hit the window, smashed through it. The speed at which they were travelling was enough to send them both crashing over the balcony to the plaza below. Screams of the locals echoed around as the two men hit the floor.

Spike got to his feet and faced Wolfram. 'Come on then. Lets do this the old fashioned way'. He smacked Wolfram straight in the face. His head turned about ninety degrees and stopped. He turned back slowly to face Spike.

'OK.' He smiled and kicked Spike squarely in the ribs. He flew about fifty feet back and landed in a fountain in the middle of the plaza. Wolfram walked over to him as Spike got to his knees and blocked a punch from Wolfram. He redirected him into the statue in the middle of the fountain, then kicked him in the stomach. He got up and kicked Spike in the stomach, and threw throws him into the statue. He pressed Spike against, then Spike grabbed him by the throat and begins to choke him. Spike threw Wolfram off of him. Spike kicked him in the stomach, which sent him spinning to the ground. He leapt back up and tried to block a spinning kick from Spike, but failed. Wolfram got to his feet and then kicked him with a roundhouse, then another. Wolfram took Spike's legs out which sent his crashing into the water.

He grabbed him by the lapels. 'I'm not going to kill you yet. I still need that heart of yours. I'll rip it from your chest before dusting your sorry ass!'

'Spike!' he heard his name screamed from one of the balconies lining the plaza. He looked up and saw Buffy standing at the edge of one. She was there. Willow had done it again.

'Buffy' he whispered. His momentary lapse of concentration lead to Wolfram smacking Spike in the face which caused him to crash into the water again. Buffy climbed up on to the railing and jumped to the ground. Any normal person jumping from that height would have broken their neck when they landed. But for Buffy it was as though she were jumping off of a foot stool.

At the fountain, Wolfram punched Spike again. 'Then I'll slaughter the slayer and her sister'. He took a knife out of his pocket which he transformed into a samurai sword.

'Or I could just move that ahead of schedule.' He smiled immorally at Spike, turned the sword round and thrust it back under his arm where it stopped abruptly. Wolfram let go of the sword but it stayed where it was. He stepped to the side and revealed Buffy right behind him, the sword impaling her heart.

'BUFFY NO!' Spike cried. He kicked Wolfram with both feet so hard he flew across to the other side of the plaza. He got to his feet, dusted himself off and was just about to walk back over to Spike when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to face a raging Willow.

'Now its personal' She hit him, not with her fist, but with a bolt of light green energy which caused him to crash through the window of one of the many pizzerias lining the plaza.

Spike picked himself up and ran to Buffy as she collapsed on the floor. He caught her in his arms and sunk to the floor with her.

'oh god Buffy, please no!' his face was a mix of shocked disbelief and inconceivable anguish. Tears were streaming down his face. He felt like he was dying again, only this time, the pain was infinitely worse. He looked at the wound and could hear her heart beat slowing. He ran his hand over her face. 'I love you, please, I cant lose you.' She coughed slightly as a trickle of blood ran down her chin from the corner of her mouth. 'Oh god, no, Buffy, what to I do? Buffy.' His voice was choked by sobs.

Her voice was weak, and pained. 'Take care of Dawn for me' She touched his cheek and wiped away some of the tears. 'I...I love you. So much' He touched her lip with his thumb.

Her eyes fell closed and he felt her last breath brush against his thumb.

'Buffy, no. Come back Buffy. Come back.' He sobbed as laid his forehead on hers and held her limp lifeless body close to him as he cried helplessly.


	11. Your worst nightmare

Wolfram stood up slowly and brushed the broken glass off of himself and cracked his neck. He started to step over broken glass and wall from where he had been thrown through it.

'Ah. Willow Rosenberg. I've heard a lot about you.'

Willow simply stared at him with a blind fury. Green energy crackled around her. In her hair, the roots had started to go black.

'Looks like your not gonna be able to control yourself Wicca. You'll lose control, just like before. Before long you'll join the dark side and no-one will be able to stop you.'

The black in Willows hair had spread to half way down the length.

'I've been studying' Willow replied as she closed her eyes and the black started to recede back into the roots.

Wolfram watched this with alarm, then started toward Willow.

'Vincire!' Wolfram cried as he held out a hand toward Willow, sending a binding spell toward her, but she waved her hand at it.

'Solutum'. She muttered as the binding field dissolved. Wolfram lowered his hand. Willow took a few steps forwards

Wolfram opened his fist and formed a ball of magic in his hand and threw it at Willow.

'Excudo!'

Willow flew backward into the brick wall of a bakery and through it. She slammed into a glass cabinet full of cakes, bread and pizzas.

She stood up without bending as if being pulled up and forward by a rope around the waist. She simply glared at Wolfram. 'Your powers ... may be undeniably greater. But I can still hurt you if I have to.'

Wolfram laughed with an evil menace in his voice. 'You just don't get it, do you? Nothing can hurt me.' He threw a bolt of magic towards Willow and she was thrown up so hard she broke through the ceiling of the shop leaving a huge hole in it. She landed on the floor upstairs. Wolfram glided upwards through the hole and landed next to Willow. 

'I thought you were an all powerful Wicca? Looks like I was wrong.' Wolfram sneered as he threw a bolt of blue energy at Willow which caused her to writhe in pain. She had never experienced anything like it. Her body went limp and Wolfram kicked her through the window opposite them and she crashed to the ground below, unconscious.

'Now. To finish what I started.' Wolfram said to himself and floated out of the building to the ground, over Willow. He landed and walked casually over to his next victim.

Spike was cradling Buffy in his arms, running his hand through her hair. 'Oh well. one down two to go!' Wolfram sneered behind him.

Spike placed Buffy's body gently back on the ground and got slowly to his feet. He turned around and faced Wolfram. Spikes eyes had changed to a darker, almost black colour. He didn't need to change into game face. The fury, hurt, grief and pain inside him were stronger than all his vamperic abilities. He punched Wolfram in the face and kicked him in the gut. Almost immediately he followed with a roundhouse kick to his face. Spike then took his legs out from under him. He straddled Wolfram and repeatedly smashed his face with his fist.

'You son of a bitch.' _punch_ 'your gonna die...' _punch_ '...for what...' _punch_ '...you did...' _punch_ '...to Buffy.' _punch_.

Without warning, Wolfram blocked the next punch Spike threw at him by grabbing his fist.

'Oh I don't think so' He crunched his legs up and kicked Spike in the stomach. Spike flew back a few feet and landed on his back. Wolfram got to his feet. 'If anyone's gonna die, it'll be you'. Suddenly he moved forward with magic speed and was next to Spike. He pulled him to his knees and placed his right hand over Spike's chest and grabbed his face with the other so he could look directly into his eyes. 'Still need this remember.'

Spike felt a pain like no other he'd ever experienced as the pain overtook him, blinding him. It felt like Buffy was dying in his arms a million times and he screamed as the pain ripped through him. Then a voice sounded behind Wolfram.

'Hey. Get your hands off him!' A pair of pure white, glowing hands took a hold of either side of Wolframs head. He screamed in agony, taking his hands away from Spike to clutch at the hands on his head. They left his head and Wolfram turned around to come face to face with a being of pure white and gold. Behind it were five other beings.

'Who are you?!' Wolfram cried.

The being in front of him lifted its head and looked straight into his eyes. 'Were your worst nightmare'. And once again it placed its hands on either side of Wolframs head as the other beings joined hands. An energy crackled between them and transferred into the being in front of Wolfram. The energy transmitted into Wolfram and he screamed again. The energy overtook him and he became a long thread of light that winked out in the middle like an old-style picture-tube TV going off.

Spike watched the display before him in awe. The being in front of him knelt down before him and he almost died (again) of shock. He was staring into the beautiful face of his lover.

'B-Buffy?' he whispered. He looked over and saw Buffy's dead body lying over by the fountain, the sword still in her chest. He looked back and forth at the being in front of him and Buffy's lifeless form.

'It's me. Well sort of. My spirit' Buffy was dressed in a white silk dress that pooled around her ankles and her skin was paler than usual but still had a little colour in it. Her golden hair flowed at her shoulders.

'How?' Spike asked simply.

'Turns out I have friends in high places. Buffy smiled and Spike looked past her. Standing behind her were the spirits of Joyce, Tara, Anya, Cordy and Fred. They were all dressed similarly to Buffy. Spike turned to look at Buffy again. She put a hand to his cheek. It felt like a feather being brushed against his skin. He tried to touch Buffy's hand but his went straight through hers.

Behind them Dawn had appeared in the plaza. She saw was the lifeless body of her sister lying by the fountain with the sword in her heart. She did not notice the white beings around the plaza.

'Buffy' She cried as she ran over to it.

Buffy's spirit turned around. 'Dawn' she said simply. Dawn stopped in her tracks and her gaze kept alternating between body and spirit.

'Oh my god no.' she started to cry

'Dawnie its ok' Buffy said.

'It really is honey' Dawn turned to see her mother standing behind her.

'Mom?' Dawn whimpered.

This was too much for Dawn to handle. She sunk to the floor sobbing. Joyce turned to Buffy 'I'll talk to her' she said as she knelt beside Dawn and explained what was happening.

Buffy turned back to Spike. He got to his feet as Buffy stood up.

'How did you do it?' Spike asked.

'He was pure evil. Not a lick of goodness in him. All of us together make up a whole lot of goodness. Enough to get rid of him forever.'

Fred walked up behind Buffy and placed a hand on her shoulder. 'We haven't got long Buffy.' She smiled at Spike and turned back to the others.

'Please don't go' Spike whispered as he stepped closer to Buffy's form. 'I had so much to tell you. And now...' he trailed off as tears fell down his cheeks. She looked into his eyes, tears were filling her eyes too. 'Shh. Its gonna be ok. You can still tell me. I'll be able to hear you.'

'I love you too much to let you go again.' Spike whispered.

'I love you. I always will'. She brushed her fingers over his lips and across his cheek. She lay her hand on his cheek and kissed him softly. It felt like butterfly wings fluttering on his lips. He returned the kiss ever so softly so that their lips were just brushing. All he wanted to do was kiss Buffy one last time with all the passion, lust and love he felt for her.

Behind them the other spirits all looked at each other and joined hands. A golden energy flowed between them.

Without thinking Spike lifted his hand and ran it over Buffy's cheek and, wait, he ran his hand over her cheek again. He could touch her. Buffy had felt it too. She broke the kiss and stared into his eyes.

'Did you just?'

'I think so' Spike reached out to touch her again to make sure this wasn't some sick joke his mind was playing on him. His hand connected with her cheek and didn't go straight through her. Spike looked over to where Buffy's dead body had been and... it was nowhere to be seen. He ran his hand gently over her body, running it from her cheek over her neck, brushing pas her breasts and stopping on her stomach. He was afraid that if he touched her too firmly she would disappear and this would all have been a dream.

'Your...your not...'

'I know' Buffy whispered as tears of happiness replaced those of sadness. Buffy wrapped her arms around Spikes neck and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist as he wound his arms around her back, holding her close, never wanting to let go. The world faded around them as they lost themselves in each other. Spike almost forgot not to drop Buffy as she darted her tongue into his mouth and caressed his tongue with hers. Spike responded with the same fiery passion.

'Buffy.' Spike gasped into her mouth, 'don't ever leave me again'

'I wont. I promise' Buffy replied as they sunk to the floor still kissing, never wanting to let the other go.


	12. Thank god for beds

A N -: (Ok, so I took out the part about Xander, Connor and Angel appearing in the plaza as well 'cos I wanted to focus mainly on the Spuffiness. That's all that I changed in the previous chapter. Dawn is still there however.)

Buffy pulled back from the kiss as she and Spike stood up. Dawn ran over to her sister and held her in a crushing hug. "Don't ever do that again" she cried. They turned around to the spirits of their friends. "I'm guessing you guys had something to do with this" she smiled at them as she and Dawn helped Spike over towards them. He was badly beaten up from his fight with Wolfram and still weak from where he had tried to take Spike's heart.

"You could say that. Plus the Powers That Be wanted you both to remain on this earth and continue the fight against evil. You two are the strongest defenders of all that is good, that they have ever had." Cordy informed them.

"Well sooner or later they'll have to find a new defender in my place when I get too old to fight." Buffy said.

"That's not going to happen" Tara told her. On Buffy's questioning look she added, "Haven't you noticed how in the past few years you haven't aged a day since we resurrected you."

"Not really. I just thought I had a damn good moisturiser" Buffy smiled. Tara continued. "Well if someone is restored to life then they no longer age as a human does. You will age, only slower. Every fifty years you will have aged only one human year." "However you are still mortal, in the sense that you can be killed, just not by old age." Fred added.

Buffy looked astonished, as did Spike, but he couldn't complain. He had always feared, ever since he had fallen in love with Buffy, that he would have to watch her grow old and die, and he didn't know if he could take that.

"Yes, so that means you can have lots and lots of sex for hundreds of years without losing any of your vitality" Anya smiled. "I am going to pretend I heard none of that Anya" Joyce informed her.

Their attention turned to the right as Willow came slowly over, not believing what she was seeing. "Tara? Baby?" she whispered, tears in her eyes. "It's me Willow." She told her quietly. "Oh Tara, I love you so much" she didn't know how she was here, only that Tara's spirit was here and she had to tell her before she went away. "I'm so sorry. You must be so ashamed of me." Willow whispered. "Why?" Tara asked. "For everything I did after you died. Losing control, killing Warren. You warned me that the magick's would hurt me, but I just lost control. I'm so sorry, can you ever forgive me" Willow sobbed. "Of course I do baby. I love you." Tara told her as a blue light started to form around her and the other spirits.

"Well time's up guys" Cordy said. They all started to disappear before them.

Spike, Buffy, Dawn and Willow, all stood mesmerised at the scene before them. As the spirits disappeared Xander appeared in the plaza having only just regained consciousness. "What'd I miss" he said breathlessly. "It's a long story." Buffy said "Buffy died, came back as a spirit, destroyed Wolfram, was made human again and informed she would no longer age like humans do." Spike informed him. "Ok not that long." Buffy said. Xander looked back over his shoulder up at Buffy's broken window. "How long was I up there?!" He asked himself.

"Buffy looked over to the horizon and saw the sun rising. "We need to get inside. I'm not having you burn to a crisp after everything we've been through tonight." Buffy said. "It doesn't seem like only one night. My god, I've lost you three times in, what, less than six hours." He said as he stopped to look at her. "I've lost you twice" she told him. "Twice?" he asked puzzled. "Once, when you got eaten by that dragon, and then again when Wolfram made you sign that contract so I would live. That's enough for one lifetime." She smiled at him.

"Ok we've all missed something major here" Willow said as they reached the inside of the apartment complex. "Maybe we'll tell you about it sometime. But now, I just wanna sleep for a week. I've fought in an apocalypse, been tortured almost to death, died and been brought back. Again. Ok make that two weeks." Buffy sighed as she rested her head on Spikes shoulder, while still helping him up the stairs into her apartment. "Ok we've missed a lot" Xander muttered.

They turned the corner onto the corridor that lead to Buffy's apartment and saw a very pissed off looking Mr Fabio, the owner of the apartment building. "Excuse me Miss Summers, would you mind explaining what in god's name had happened here." He cried, directing towards the remains of the door and the window leading outside. "Not now Mr Fabio" Buffy said wearily. "Oh I think now it the perfect opportunity." He really reminded her of Principal Snyder, perhaps this was him reincarnated. "Look, I've had a god awful night and I really don't want to deal with this now." She said as she walked past him. He went to stop her, but Spike grabbed his arm. "Lay one finger on her and you won't live to regret it" Spike told him as he followed Buffy into her apartment. Willow stood in front of Mr. Fabio and put her hand to his temple. "Erasio" she muttered. He stood there, staring into space. "Now, there is nothing wrong with the door or anything else in the apartment. You will not harass Buffy again." She went to head into the apartment, then turned back. "oh and you will decrease her rent as well" she smiled to her self and went back inside.

"Looks like you're gonna be confined to Buffy's room till the sun goes down Spikey" Xander said. "Ok, I've just realised how that can be a very good thing to you guys, so just pretend I didn't say anything." He turned his attention to the broken window. "ah, just like old times" he muttered to himself as Buffy and Spike headed for her bedroom, Willow and Dawn collapsed on the sofa.

Buffy kicked the door closed behind her as she helped Spike over to her bed. He sat down on the edge as she sat next to him and lay back, exhausted. "Oh thank god for bed's" she sighed as Spike took his duster off and lay down next to her. "Definitely one of god's greater creations" he agreed.

Buffy propped herself up on her elbow, resting her head on her hand. She ran her other hand tenderly down the side of his face as he stared deeply into her eyes. He pulled her down to him, capturing her lips in a heart searing kiss. He ran his hands over her body as she winced in pain. He pulled back abruptly. "What's wrong" he asked, fear in his eyes. "Oh, apparently the whole becoming a spirit, and then human again thing doesn't heal up old torture wounds." She moaned. "They're not as bad as they were, 'cos of the slayer healing thing but they still hurt.". She told him. "He lifted her shirt to look at the wounds. They had healed over, but tender, deep red marks were left in their place. He brought his lips gently down to one of them and kissed it ever so softly. He looked up at Buffy. "Sleep. It'll help." He whispered to her. She lay back on the pillow as Spike used his lips to sooth the pain away whilst Buffy stroked his hair leisurely.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep she whispered "Come here" to him and he moved to lie next to her. She rolled over on to her front as she laid her head on his chest. She placed her right leg in between Spike's as he rested his head on the top of hers. She took his hand and interlaced her fingers with his, trying to get as close to him as possible. She felt the safest she had ever been. "I love you Spike" Buffy whispered. "I love you Buffy" was his reply, as sleep washed over them both.

OK so that's the LAST chapter. I hope you liked the ending!


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